


The Morning After the Morning After

by LinRo



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Flash Fic, Post-Save Chloe Price Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-29
Updated: 2018-08-29
Packaged: 2019-07-04 05:48:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15835005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LinRo/pseuds/LinRo
Summary: In a crappy motel room, after the end of the worst week ever, Max begins her new life.





	The Morning After the Morning After

Max woke up with her body as limp as a soggy pool noodle. The few hours of fitful sleep she had snatched had done nothing to refresh her. Instead, it had felt like she had been on her side for an eternity, smelling that thin motel air, staring at the blaring red digits of the clock as they ticked later into the night. Now there was more light in the room, even if it was a little cloudy outside. But she still didn't want to move.

 

Chloe and Max had spent most of the previous day driving down the West Coast in numb silence. Max had received a barrage of text messages from her family. She had assured them that she was okay, and then put the phone on mute. She had half a mind to throw the damn thing in the Pacific. Most of her address book was dead, after all, and the one who really mattered hadn't left her side all yesterday.

 

Chloe was gone now, though. Max saw a post-it note on the nightstand, and managed to motivate one arm to grab it.  _Gone to get breakfast -- be back in 15!!!_ Typical Chloe, mustering a veneer of excitement no matter what the circumstances.

 

Maybe that was what last night had been about. They hadn't gone all the way, but they had gone farther than Max had with any of her previous, hesitant partners. There had been hands under shirts, and long clammy kisses against necks. It hadn't made Max feel good, but it had made her feel less bad. It had made everything make a bit more sense. After all, best friends weren't supposed to mean enough to make you sacrifice everything, especially ones you hadn't seen in years. But someone you loved romantically? Well, that was every movie climax ever.

 

Max felt a bit more energy coming back to her, and slumped out of bed. The motel had been the first one they saw after they both realized abruptly that they couldn't go anymore. The walls were a rusty brown, the sheets a nauseous pink, the TV didn't work, and Max could have sworn she spotted a cockroach. But it didn't matter.

 

The bathroom was equally dodgy, the yellowing wallpaper starting to peal. She pulled off her clothes and tried the shower. No matter how much she adjusted the knobs, the water was always scalding hot or freezing cold. Still, it felt good, getting all the dirt of the road off her.

 

Losing the whole town at once was too much to process. Whenever Max's thoughts crept towards the decision she had made, she felt as if the enormity of it might crush her. She was still expecting her phone to buzz any minute now with a message from Warren, or thinking that they should turn around and head back to the Two Whales for some pancakes.

 

Max had decided that she would let each of them into her mind to die individually, one per day. She would start with people like David and Frank, who she never cared for even if their intentions had been good. Then she would move on to all the classmates and teachers at Blackwood -- the ones who hadn't turned out to be serial killers, at least. And then, maybe once she had become a practiced mourner, she could grasp what she had done to a Warren or a Joyce.

 

But it was hopeless. She would let a trickle of grief seep through, and the next thing she knew she was overwhelmed by the flood. How many times on that trip had she bent over crying, seat belt digging into her shoulder, as Chloe patted her shoulder and tried to find something comforting to say? So she had mostly topped thinking about it. Except for times like now, when she was thinking about thinking about it. And crying again.

 

Max let the shower run cold until she had at least stopped the tears. She stepped out and wiped everything away with the ratty towel provided by the management. She changed back into the same clothes she had been wearing for the past three days, and which had definitely started to smell.

 

When she got out of the bathroom, Chloe was sitting on the bed. And all of a sudden, everything seemed less miserable. Chloe was looking a little rougher than she usually did -- all her usual makeup had been lost in the storm, and flecks of brown were beginning to show in her blue hair. But she was still absolutely beautiful. Those porcelain cheeks, the jagged edges of her nose... Max has no idea why such a creature would want anything to do with her. But she did, and it was worth all the rest.

 

"Hey," Chloe said. "I got you a coffee, a breakfast sandwich, and a donut. You still like double chocolate, right?"

 

"Duh," said Max. She reached for the coffee at the same time Chloe offered it to her.  Their arms collided, and the cup twisted sideways, its contents erupting onto Chloe's shirt and the bedspread beneath.

 

Max saw the hot coffee flying up in the air and instinctively raised her hand. She felt the power welling up in her, as tempting and demanding as it always had been. Just one more time, she thought. She couldn't piss off Chloe.

 

Chloe caught her hand by the wrist as the drink spilled on her shirt. "Relax, Super Max. I'll be fine." She winced. "Stings a bit, though. See if they packed any napkins in that bag."

 

So this would be life, then. Making mistakes, fucking up, stumbling along like every other mortal. But with Chloe by her side. Someone who had been through hell with her, and come back with more love than ever.

 

Chloe pulled her shirt over her head, and Max tried not to gawk. "You think I could get away with driving in just my bra?"

 

"Well, this is California."

 

Chloe smirked. "I like how you're thinking. I knew I could corrupt you, Max."

 

As they pulled out of the motel, the sun was beginning to slip through the clouds.


End file.
